The lost dog named Cora ran loose for five days. She escaped a food trap on Tuesday night and again Wednesday night. Just as the owners were getting totally discouraged, a kind woman named Cynthia Gutschenritter brought Cora back home.

“I’m starting to feel like we’ll never get her back,” worried owner Levi Most said early Thursday morning on Facebook.

Gutschenritter managed to get a leash around the wayward Labrador, thanks to her dog Leo and some sausage.

“Leo is a great obedient dog, so that allowed Cora to trust me,” Gutschenritter told the Bulletin.

Cora was adopted from the North Platte Animal Shelter about three weeks ago. Her new owners loved her but she slipped away from them, bolting from the car one day before they got a firm hold on her leash.

She wouldn’t return. She seemed to hang around their neighborhood on the east side of town, but she wouldn’t come back in the yard. Her owners set a trap. They made a trail of bacon grease from the alley, through the open gate to some dog food in their yard. They rigged the gate so they could pull a long rope from inside the house to close the gate. They watched all night. They saw her, but she didn't seem too interested in any of it.

They did the same thing again the next night, and Cora put her nose to the gate but then turned around and ran, Alicia Faye Most said on Facebook.

People all over town were watching for Cora, who had somehow slipped her lease and collar, maybe because someone else found her and tried to keep her.

Gutschenritter learned about Cora through Facebook. By Tuesday, her owners figured out where Cora was sleeping and around 10 a.m. Thursday, Gutschenritter decided to try to catch the dog.

She loaded her dog Leo, who she rescued from the shelter a few months ago, into her car along with some sausage and an extra leash. She found Cora in an alley way. Cora was curious, hungry, and somewhat trustful of Gutschenritter and Leo.

Gutschenritter managed to slip a leash on Cora, who tried to pull away, but when the leash came tight, Cora gave up and went along peacefully.

Gutschenritter put the dogs in her car and returned Cora to the owners.

Gutschenritter, who is the administrator of the city’s public access television station, is an avid animal lover. She posts photos and videos of pets that are up for adoption on TV, and sometimes she pitches in to take care of the overflow from the shelter. She said at one time last summer, she had 18 kittens on her porch and bottle fed some of them.

She’s now down to one extra kitten, but she’s happy to help, she said.